William Hollis Long II (born August 11, 1955) is an American politician who has served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

Missouri's 7th congressional district Missouri's 7th congressional district consists of Southwest Missouri. The district includes Springfield, the home of Missouri State University, and the popular tourist destination city of Branson. Located along the borders of Kansas, Oklahoma ...

since 2011. The district includes much of the southwestern quadrant of the state and is anchored in

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

. It also includes Joplin and

Branson Branson may refer to: Places ;Canada * Branson, Toronto ;United States * Branson, Missouri, a popular tourist destination in the Ozark Mountains * Branson, Colorado * Branson City, California * The Branson School, in Ross, California * Warrenpoi ...

. A member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

, Long was elected to fill the district's seat in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, succeeding Roy Blunt upon his election to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. After Blunt announced that he would not run for reelection to the Senate in 2022, Long became a candidate in the 2022 race to succeed him, but he lost the Republican primary to

Eric S. Schmitt Eric Stephen Schmitt (born June 20, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Schmitt served as the Missouri Attorney General from 2019 to ...

. Long is an auctioneer.

Early life and education

A fourth-generation native of Missouri, Long was born in

in 1955. He attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

and was a member of the

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek Letter Organizations#Greek letters, Greek-let ...

fraternity before dropping out. After taking time off from school for three years, Long attended a nine-day training program at the Missouri Auction School in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. He received his Certified Auctioneer designation via the National Auctioneers Association.

Career

Long owned Billy Long Auctions,

LLC A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

. He was also a talk radio show host on the Springfield-based station KWTO. He is a member of the

National Association of Realtors The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is an American trade association for those who work in the real estate industry. It has over 1.4 million members, making it one of the biggest trade associations in the USA including NAR's institutes, so ...

National Auctioneers Association The National Auctioneers Association (NAA), founded in 1949, is an advocacy group representing auctioneers, auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then se ...

, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

, and the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors. During a September 2018 House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on alleged anti-conservative bias on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, far-right

internet personality An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...

Laura Loomer Laura Elizabeth Loomer (born May 21, 1993) is an American Radical right (United States), far-right and anti-Muslim political activist, white nationalist, conspiracy theorist, and internet personality. She was the Republican Party (United States ...

interrupted the meeting. Long began a mock

auction chant Auction chant (also known as "bid calling", "the auction cry", "the cattle rattle", or simply "auctioneering") is a rhythmic repetition of numbers and "filler words" spoken by auctioneers when taking bids at an auction. Auction chanting is an al ...

pretending he was selling Loomer's mobile phone until she was escorted out. The incident generated considerable laughter and applause from the audience. Long also participated in the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...

, participating in professional sanctioned games including the Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage and the Bellagio Cup. In September 2018, in response to sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee

Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...

, Long retweeted a Twitter post comparing the allegations to a "kiss on the forehead".

U.S. House of Representatives

2010

;Republican primary Long joined the race for the 7th Congressional District after incumbent

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Roy Blunt chose to run for the

seat being vacated by Kit Bond. In the crowded seven-way Republican primary—the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' election in the state's most Republican district—Long won with 36% of the vote. ;General election

2012

2014

In the August 5 Republican primary, Long defeated Marshall Works, 62.4% to 37.6%.

2016

In the August 2 Republican primary, Long defeated Nathan Clay, Christopher Batsche, Matthew Evans, Lyndle Spencer, Matthew Canovi, James Nelson and Mary Byrne.

2018

In the Republican primary, Long defeated Jim Evans, Lance Norris, and Benjamin Holcomb. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Jamie Schoolcraft, who had defeated Kenneth Hatfield, John Farmer de la Torre, and Vincent Jennings in the Democratic primary.

2020

In the August 4 Republican primary, Long defeated Eric Harleman, Kevin VanStory, Steve Chetnik and Camille Lombardi-Olive.

Legislation

Since 2011, Long has sponsored 37 bills, 103 resolutions and 26 concurrent resolution, and co-sponsored 1,258 other pieces of legislation. He also introduced the Agricultural Certainty for Reporting Emissions Act on March 14, 2018, which would amend the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. The bill has not passed the House for further voting in the Senate.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Energy and Commerce ** Subcommittee on Energy and Power ** Subcommittee on Communications and Technology ** Subcommittee on Health

Caucus memberships

* Congressional Arts Caucus *

Congressional Constitution Caucus The Congressional Constitution Caucus is a congressional caucus made up of 41 members of the United States Congress. The caucus was founded in 2005; it had 37 members the first year it was founded. The group was founded and formerly led by Repu ...

* U.S.-Japan Caucus

Political positions

Immigration

Long supported President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's 2017 executive order banning entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.

Objections to the 2020 election results

After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and

refused to concede, Long pushed Trump’s claims of fraud in the election. In December 2020, Long supported an amicus brief in support of ''

Texas v. Pennsylvania ''Texas v. Pennsylvania'', 592 U.S. ___ (2020), was a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the administration of the 2020 presidential election in certain states, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump. Fil ...

'', a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election based on allegations of fraud.

LGBTQ rights

In 2015, Long condemned the Supreme Court ruling in ''

Obergefell v. Hodges ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection ...

'', which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.

References

External links

Congressman Billy Long
official U.S. House website
Campaign website
* * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Billy 1955 births 21st-century American politicians American auctioneers Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections Living people Politicians from Springfield, Missouri Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri